An outspoken pro-Israel politician caused outrage across France today by comparing the mutilated corpse of a Palestinian child to ‘Halal meat’.

Jacques Renaud, the right wing deputy mayor affiliated to the UMP opposition, portrayed the killing of an infant in the Gaza Strip as being similar to animals being slaughtered according to Islamic ritual.

Mr Renaud's comment came as thousands prepared to take to the streets of Paris in a pro-Palestine demonstration which many fear will lead to violence.

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Mr Renaud's response to the tweet, which has been deleted from his account, but has been re-tweeted by several Twitter users

Jewish
groups have accused anti-Semites of hijacking the rallies, while
thousands of Muslims taking part say they are being unfairly labelled as
extremists.

Mr
Renaud, 66, who is also a successful businessman, wrote on Twitter:
‘Great support to all the attacked Jews of France, we are in the 21st
Century, a bit of humanity and civility would be welcome.’

A
critic responded by tweeting a picture of a decapitated child,
referring to the Israeli army having killed more
than 200 children during its assault on Gaza.

In response to the image Mr Renaud replied: ‘It’s Halal meat, I suppose.’

Halal is Arabic for permissible, and refers to food which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran.

Halal meat is a big issue in France, where the five million plus Muslim community regularly complains about government attempts to outlaw it.

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Mr Renaud is a firm supporter of Israel and regularly takes to Twitter to attack Hamas, the ruling authority in Gaza.

Stephane Piednoir, the UMP mayor of Montreuil-Juigne was on holiday so not able to respond to his assistant’s words, but a spokesman said there would be ‘grave consequences’ if the comments turned out to be true. Mr Renaud was not available for comment.

Pro-Palestinian protesters hold a giant Palestinian flag during protests in Paris today against violence in the Gaza Strip; officials fear the protest could lead to further violence

A banned pro-Palestine march ended in violence on Saturday, and on Sunday a synagogue in a northern suburb of Paris was threatened by a mob of rioters.

Despite the street violence, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said tonight’s protests could go ahead, with security stepped up across the capital.

Mr Cazeneuve said: ‘I have given specific orders to security forces so they can quickly intervene if any anti-Semitic acts are committed.’

Anti-Semitic chants are banned under French criminal law and – to date – there has been no evidence of any being used on the marchers.